Even amidst the uncertainty of the pandemic, the NFL plays to forge ahead with its 2020 season. This week, commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated that stance in a chat with Kairos CEO Ankur Jain.

“The NFL is planning to play,” Goodell said (link via the NFL on Instagram). “That’s our hope, and that’s our planning to date…We can help our country heal. We can help bring our communities together. We can provide hope.”

Goodell also stressed that public safety is paramount to the NFL. Right now, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the NFL launches its season in September exactly as planned. Even if social distancing regulations are relaxed by local and federal regulators, the threat of a new COVID-19 wave will likely linger.

In the meantime, the NFL has drastically altered its offseason plans while mostly keeping the scheduled milestones in place. NFL executives will conduct the NFL Draft at their individual homes. And, between now and April 23rd, they’re conducting interviews with players via video conference.

19 comments on “Roger Goodell: NFL Planning To Play In 2020”

i should hope they’re not planning on canceling yet. God forbid anyone actually play things by year knowing full well we dont know how things will be a week from now, much less several months from now.

Maybe the NFL figures out some way to play games but I will bet anything that fans are not going to rush off to a stadium packed with 60,000 others until they see a vaccine available…and even the most optimistic forecasts say that is at least a year away.

Well maybe there are people who think that since the death rate from the virus is only about 3% the fear is over exaggerated but think about this for a second…That 3% is the same edge casinos give themselves over customers. How often do they go broke?

“Right now, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the NFL launches its season in September exactly as planned.”

No, it’s not. In fact, it’s hard to imagine that there will be any significant issue with playing games on schedule in front of fans in the regular stadiums.

Even the often cited IHME model, which has overprojected nearly every parameter, and is drastically reducing its numbers daily, has virtually all COVID deaths ending by late May, and assumes that social distancing will be lifted by June 1.

If this is truly seasonal, typical seasonal diseases don’t ramp up until late fall, which means the league should be able to start on time and then adjust later if a second wave seems imminent. And at least one virologist is predicting that the sheer number of vaccine trials means that a vaccine could be ready as early as fall.

I’m not saying the NFL season will absolutely progress without a hitch, but it’s more likely than not, based on fact, not fear.

Although some pundits have suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic will dissipate with coming warm temperatures and high humidity in the Northern Hemisphere, the virus is unlikely to be seasonal in nature, according to a paper published yesterday by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.